Help

No account yet?
Registering is free, easy, and private.
Discuss in the forum, contribute to the Encyclopedia, build your own MyAnime lists, and more.

Review

by John Jakala, Jan 10th 2003

Super Manga Blast

Issue 25

Review:

7/10: And Dark Horse Comics' manga anthology manages to make it to issue twenty-five. Looking at ICv2.com's numbers for Nov. 2002, SMB! #27 came in at #200 on the chart, with an estimated 5,409 copies preordered (which puts it 10 spots, but some 2,000 units, below DHC's OH MY GODDESS #92). I have no idea how acceptable those numbers are to DHC, but I hope this title continues to survive. I've been following this title since #1, and I'm happy to see that it's made it this far.

Actually, looking back a bit further at ICv2's data, I see that orders for SMB! #25 were 5,690 - up over 500 units from SMB! #24. Presumably the reason for the bump was the return of the artist featured on the cover, Masamune Shirow, whose APPLESEED tale opens the book:

APPLESEED HYPERNOTES: But before we can get to the actual comic, we're bombarded with two pages of text attempting to bring us APPLESEED neophytes up to speed. A nice gesture, but it all read like gibberish to me, so I skipped it and jumped into the actual story. From what I could make out, it involved something about a police SWAT mission gone wrong. Pretty to look at, but a confusing story. Still, I've found that it's generally a sound idea to allow series in an anthology comic time to grow on you, so I'll continue to check out this feature in upcoming stories to see if it eventually clicks for me (as the next feature did).

SHADOW STAR: Shiina, along with Hoshimaru and Ensof, attempts to locate Akira, who has been abducted by an evil gang of dragon handlers. A good chapter, but I was a bit confused as to why Ensof didn't help out when Amapola (Satomi's shadow dragon) showed up holding Akira hostage. Was it because Ensof needed to be controlled by Akira, and she was too panicked to command him (it)? I guess I need to review how the whole link with the dragons works.

WHAT'S MICHAEL?: Another cute story about the antics of cats. I'm not a big fan of cats, but I love these strips. They're just such goofy fun, and I enjoy the exaggerated features of Kobayashi's characters. In this segment, Kobayashi explores the bond between an infant girl and her two feline siblings, and how the three tax the endurance of their mother/owner.

CLUB 9: Haruo talks down an arrogant baseball player and helps everyone save face. As in WHAT'S MICHAEL?, Kobayashi has a great way with characters' expressions and body language. He conveys individual personalities through the way characters carry themselves in various situations. I think many of CLUB 9's chapters could be read without words and the gist of the story and character interactions would still be clear (unlike most of Marvel's 'NUFF SAID attempts).

SERAPHIC FEATHER: Another series that I find largely incomprehensible. (Perhaps my understanding of manga is inversely proportional to the quantity of robots contained therein.) But there are enough unique things being done with pacing and storytelling (such as a two-panel sequence of a protagonist kicking off during a fight) to hold my interest.

Overall: SUPER MANGA BLAST! continues to provide great comics at an outstanding value - 5 individual stories spanning 128 pages for only 6 bucks. If you're at all interested in manga and you're not reading this anthology, you should check it out. Some of the stories may not appear to interest you at first, but I think if you give each series a chance, you'll find something to appreciate in each one.

Travel back in time (and maybe have your gender swapped) to seven different periods of Japanese history, all from the comfort of your couch.― The history of Japanese civilization is expansive, predating the Common Era by 10,000 years (the Jomon period). There's much more ground to cover compared to what kids get in U.S. history classes in high school, which rarely cover anything before the Boston T...

Junji Ito's death-stench horror gets the deluxe treatment with a new hardcover omnibus, but the subject matter might not work for everyone.― Junji Ito is inarguably one of the masters of horror manga, utilizing both horror (physical revulsion) and terror (psychological reaction) to create gut-churning tales of the world gone mad. To a degree, he carries this out in his two-volume series Gyo from 200...

Voice actor/director/professional Dungeons & Dragons player Liam O'Brien returns to the podcast after a 5-year hiatus to discuss his roles in Fate/Zero and Sailor Moon, along with the landscape for anime voice acting now and what it's like to be Gollum.― ANNCast Episode 234: Podcastoes O'Brien Get the Flash Player to see this player. Voice actor/director/professional Dungeons & Dragons player Liam ...

If you went to an anime convention this summer or have used the internet lately, you may notice anime fans seem to have fallen in love with Steven Universe. Why? Because the show loves them right back.― If you've been to an anime convention in the past year, you've probably seen colorful, gem-studded cosplay like this filling the hallways. Photo credit links: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom...

If you've got questions for the director of the high-flying fantasy series The Pilot's Love Song, we've potentially got answers for you!― We've been given the opportunity to interview The Pilot's Love Song director Toshimasa Suzuki, and we need your help! NISA, who will be releasing the fantasy action drama The Pilot's Love Song on bluray September 22nd, asked for fan questions for Mr. Suzuki, whos...

Bee-Train's 2001 girls-with-guns classic returns on Blu-Ray, and holds up surprisingly well, despite some mediocre animation.― Not all older series deserve the Blu-Ray treatment. For some it is because the show just isn't as iconic as people might like to think, while for others it's because the quality was never BD worthy in the first place. Noir, fortunately, does hold up well enough that its tran...

Egypt Arc is JoJo in peak condition, as memorable and engaging an adventure as you could hope for. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is back.― When we last left our heroes, they'd just arrived on the shores of Egypt, escaping the literal jaws of defeat in order to finally save Jotaro's mother. The journey there had been a lengthy and sometimes inconsistent one, with their various adventures indeed being plen...

The creator of the hit manga, recently adapted into a popular anime series, talks about her inspirations, how she got her start, and what it's like to watch your manga become a TV show.― As you might guess from the story, the main character of the story is a high school roughneck named Ryu Yamada. Yamada meets cute, quiet, and studious Urara Shiraishi, who is his complete opposite in almost every wa...